Verkhovna Rada introduced draft resolution recognising Belarus temporarily occupied country
EUROPEAN PRAVDA – SATURDAY, 22 OCTOBER 2022, 16:54
A draft resolution recognising Belarus as a temporarily occupied country has been introduced in Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s Parliament.
European Pravda reported that a draft resolution no. 8147 was submitted on 21 October.
The resolution was submitted by a group of members of the Verkhovna Rada from different factions and groups, including Yevheniia Kravchuk, Oleksii Honcharenko, Iryna Herashchenko, and others.
Oleksii Honcharenko explained that the resolution contains several crucial points:
- an appeal to the international community to recognise the territory of Belarus as temporarily occupied by Russia;
- revocation of the international legal recognition of the government of [Aleksandr] Lukashenko;
- termination of Belarusian participation in international organisations (UN, IMF, etc.);
- an appeal to synchronise sanctions against Russia with those against Belarus as an occupied territory, and removing any opportunities for Russia to circumvent sanctions via Belarus or to use Belarus as an offshore zone.
"Lukashenko is helping Putin kill our citizens, destroy our homes and our infrastructure. Russia has de facto annexed Belarus and Lukashenko is just carrying out the orders of the Russian dictator. We must put as much pressure as possible on this illegal regime!" Honcharenko stressed.
In August, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, a former Belarusian presidential contender, announced the creation of a Joint Transitional Cabinet.
She has recently offered that Ukraine establish diplomatic relations with this Transitional Cabinet.
In a recent column in European Pravda, entitled Another Belarus: Ukraine Should Come Up with Alternative to Tsikhanouskaya among anti-Lukashenko Opposition, Bohdan Yaremenko, a member of Verkhovna Rada from the Sluha Narodu Party [Servant of the People, President Zelenskyy’s political party - ed.], proposed that Ukraine refrain from contacts with Tsikhanouskaya and her transitional government. He has offered to create an alternative platform to unite Belarusian opposition on the basis of the Kastus Kalinowski Regiment [formed in 2022 to help defend Ukraine against the full-scale Russian invasion - ed.].
Yurii Panchenko, a European Pravda editor and an expert on Belarusian issues, has written a column in response. He argues in his column, entitled An Unnecessary Ally: Why Is Kyiv Splitting the Belarusian Opposition?, that it is not in Ukraine’s interest to split the Belarusian opposition and that Kyiv should instead pursue a dialogue with Tsikhanouskaya.
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